It’d be a stretch to say No. 21 Michigan and No. 11 Purdue are in a lull, but both want to return to a higher level of play when they collide Friday in West Lafayette, Ind.
Both teams are in the top 15 in NET rankings (Michigan No. 12, Purdue No. 13 going into Wednesday) and are the second- and third-place teams in the Big Ten behind Michigan State. But despite their solid positions for the NCAA Tournament and league-title contention, both hope to get back to playing their best.
Michigan (14-4, 6-1 Big Ten) is coming off a pair of overtime games, one being an 84-81 loss at last-place Minnesota and the other an 80-76 home win over Northwestern on Sunday. The Wolverines had to grind through both performances.
“We’ve got a lot to clean up and we have to improve,” Michigan coach Dusty May said. “But we’re still learning a lot about ourselves.”
What people have already learned about Michigan is that it might have the best frontcourt tandem in the country in 7-footers Danny Wolf and Vladislav Goldin.
Wolf is averaging 12.5 points and 10.2 rebounds a game and often plays point guard with his ability to handle the ball, while Goldin is averaging 16.4 points and has been on a tear lately. Against Northwestern, Goldin had 31 points and eight rebounds and is averaging 26 points over the team’s last four contests.
Goldin showed another element to his game against Northwestern by hitting three shots from 3-point range.
“In practice when we we’re doing our shooting drills — and everyone does the same shooting drills — he’s knocked it down with consistency,” May said of Goldin’s outside shooting.
Michigan will hope to ride that duo at Purdue, which saw a 26-home winning streak snapped on Tuesday in a 73-70 loss to Ohio State.
Purdue (15-5, 7-2) had won seven straight overall before that game, but Purdue coach Matt Painter said his team wasn’t as sharp even in wins at Washington and Oregon prior to battling the Buckeyes. He hopes to see his squad play a cleaner game against Michigan.
“That’s what we’ve always tried to instill in our guys,” Painter said. “Let’s learn, not just when we lose a game. Let’s learn when we win a game. But let’s also look at some things from a clean perspective.”
While Michigan has its twin towers in the frontcourt, Purdue’s strength is in its guards.
Braden Smith leads the league in assists at 8.9 per game, Fletcher Loyer is shooting 46.3 percent from 3-point range and averaging 13.8 points a game, while Trey Kaufman-Renn leads the team in scoring at 18.3 points a contest and is shooting 42.9 percent from 3-point range.
This won’t be the only meeting of the season between the teams. The Wolverines and Boilermakers have each other as one of their repeat opponents this season and will meet again on Feb. 11 in Ann Arbor, Mich.
–Field Level Media
